Ritaboutit

My Place: A Canadian Pub, 2448 Bloor Street West

So I had been dying to try this place ever since it opened in September. Now, I wish I hadn't have consumed the calories. I hate to say this because Chef Brad Long seems like a good fella but it was really not so good.

I had a bad feeling as soon as I sat and was handed a dirty, crusty menu.

He gets props for creating a "Canadian" experience. He uses local where possible. The menu is sort of like a trip cross country. There are Nanaimo bars, bison ribs, Great Lakes Perch Po'boys, a tortiere and some mussels from P.E.I.

But...

His charcuterie plate was lifeless. I have seen more excitement at a funeral. Grainy, dry kielbassa, a square of bland pate, one piece of non-descript cheese, some pickled veg - who cares? No salumi. Except for the bright and crunchy beets this was colourless and boring.

The fries were a scavenger hunt as you had to pick through them to find the crispy ones. The others were soggy and really, can someone change the fryer oil? It was old and I'm not really down with brown fries.

He makes his own mayo which you'd think would be a big wow but oh no it tasted like its' texture. Zero flavour.

His pierogies were sad and soggy. They were mushy and they stuck to the board they came on. Sigh. More like dim sum than potato dumplings.

Honeyed buttermilk breaded chicken with sweet and sour red onions and avocado on bisquits were cute but seriously, no where was there even an essence of honey and the onions were just onions. Again, a bland one.

At that point I was seriously scratching my head and getting irritated.

The only winner and even that is a stretch as we are just giving points for something tasting like something, were the pulled Berkshire pork sliders. The challah was toasty, the pork nice and wet and the dressing sweet.

To make matters even worse this place is expensive. Bacon and eggs are $15, fish and chips come in at $23 and nachos which our server said were small will cost you $18.

I'm sorry Brad but if Canada tastes like this, no wonder our tourism is failing.